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Posted on Thu, Dec 20, 2012 : 5:15 p.m.

Saline police become one of the final Washtenaw County police agency to get Tasers

By Kyle Feldscher

Editor's note: The University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security does not have Tasers.

The Saline Police Department will be getting eight new Tasers soon. A purchase order for the non-lethal weapons was expected to be signed Thursday.

Larry Hrinik

Courtesy of Saline police

Chief Larry Hrinik said the Saline City Council approved the purchase Monday, and the purchase order was to be signed Thursday. Hrinik said the department hopes to have the Tasers by the end of the month and, after officers are trained, have them deployed by the end of February.

“It’s a great Christmas present for the department,” he said.

The Saline police will be one of the last departments in Washtenaw County to get Tasers. The Eastern Michigan Department of Public Safety announced last week it would be getting 33 Tasers.

The eight Tasers, along with holsters and other miscellaneous items that go along with them, will cost approximately $13,300, and businesses and private citizens raised all the money used to purchase them, Hrinik said.

The X2 model purchased by the department will be the latest in Taser’s technology. Hrinik said two cartridges, each with two probes, will be in each weapon, allowing officers who miss with their first shot to quickly fire a second. Being last was a positive in this case, he said.

“It’s actually a good thing for purposes of technology,” he said.

One officer in Saline is already trained as an instructor and will be able to train the other officers in the department on Taser usage. Each officer is required to take a one-day training course on how to use the weapons before being able to carry them.

If all goes according to plan, the officers should be equipped with Tasers by the end of February.

Hrinik said one of the moments that really emphasized the need for Tasers came in September. Saline police had to call in the Pittsfield Township police to help subdue a 15-year-old boy who was threatening himself and others with a butcher’s knife. Saline police had the boy cornered but were unable to bring him under control.

Eventually, Pittsfield Township officers used a stun gun to apprehend the boy.

“That incident would have been resolved much quicker had we had Tasers,” Hrinik said. “Now, we’ll be able to do those things ourselves as opposed to calling in another department.”